Another Day in the Park

2 Samuel 22:3

Good for sharpening teeth too. :)

She's supposed to be in time-out. But she looked so pretty . . .

Zane loves to climb jungle gyms to go down the slide. Here I'd keep running up to slide down with him because this slide is quite high and very steep. Funny thing was that I could hardly squeeze my hips through the opening at the top.

 

Vanessa has been displaying new poses lately. Megan conformed to them perfectly. :)

Networked

Can we get any more connected?! Yep. Daddy hooked an old computer up to our big TV. Vanessa no longer needs to ask to play a game or send an email on Mommy's work laptop. Her first day exploring this luxury she exclaimed, "Wow, Mommy. This is crazy!" I had to agree.
Vanessa can paint, play with favorite photos, games, and music, work puzzles, explore in ways to enhance many academic skills . . . the variety of activities seems endless.
.

Practicing typing skills:

Vanessa [typing really fast]: "This is code for Batman to read."

 

Zane likes looking at pictures, listening to music and watching videos on computers. With this setup, Mommy and Daddy can cruise the Net, shop Online together and scrutinize bills without nagging the other to turn the computer just so. :) (I'm trying to justify this. :) A huge pro to Daddy "going to the trouble" -- I like this as an approach to monitoring my kids' computer activity. Why not?!

Candy

None as sweet . . .

Boo-rific

We didn't get to do Boo at the Zoo last year, so this was Zane's first. The kids got their fair share of candy, at least to hold them over for a week.

It wasn't too cold, so it was a grrrreat time! And we got to see lots of animals.

Near the end of our visit, this guy was just waking up for his night of fun:

Please?

Vanessa: "Mommy, can we please go to COSI today?"
Zane: "Buh" [Said while waving arm in air, only Zane likes to ask to go bye-bye just so he can sleep in the car. :]
Mommy: "I'll make you a deal, Vanessa."
Vanessa: "What?! What, Mommy?"
Mommy: "Can you please help Mommy with some cleaning first?"
Vanessa: "Sure!"
Mommy: "Okay, you take the rugs out to shake the dirt off, and then we'll get dressed and go to COSI."
Vanessa: "Deal!"

Vanessa: "There. All done. I'm ready to get dressed and go, Mommy."

Blown Away

It was rather windy for our day of choosing pumpkins. Without Zane in it, the stroller would fly off. Inflatables were down so our visit was short. And after we picked our pumpkins, a treat of popcorn made it easy to leave the patch.

Zane was  blown away by the number and variety of pumpkins.

Vanessa thought the little ones were "So cute!"

"Patience young grasshopper..."

Just one of the many ways Vanessa shows patience -- building pillow tents and resting on them while completing an entire book of connect the dots . . .

By the Horns

With Daddy's work and school and Mommy's work, Zane is impressive in how he handles how thinly stretched we all are. His hugs and kisses help us tolerate any challenge.

Gone before you know it . . .

I heard someone  on the 6 o'clock news the other day say that 4 weeks from that point it will be dark outside. Blah . . . Below is some recent video captured at 6:15PM. I don't like the idea of shorter and darker days. As of lately Vanessa's been feeling like it's a lot later than it really is, asking as the sun is setting whether or not she should be in bed. She's phasing out her daytime naps (oh joy . . .) so as bedtime nears, she's feeling quite ready (hence why I was able to get better video of Zane. :)

Zane is discovering a new level of independence these  last few weeks. When Zane started cruising his Daddy noted that he might be great at mowing one day. It had something to do with how he carries his body and holds certain stances. (I think Daddy just wants to hand off the chore. ;-) When shooting the first couple of videos below, I completely got what Daddy was talking about, and indeed, I agree Zane will be great with the mower one day -- look at the leverage he gets!

I included this video of Zane since I like watching him pretend to dig in an almost empty sandbox. Yes, we have more sand -- just haven't had the chance to refill. :) He's making cars zoom all over the place -- still looking for a clever way to get video of that. It's so much fun to watch!

And from about a month or so ago, here's awesome video Daddy caught of Vanessa being mischievous. She's really enjoyed the story of Rapunzel lately. :) Good thing the girl has curly hair to hide the site of the cut. Nobody has ever noticed. The hair is going in her scrapbook. And why does Vanessa have access to really BIG scissors?! The girl is generally pretty safe and trustworthy, so she's allowed to get in certain drawers. However, although Mommy wasn't mad and even giggled when Daddy shared the story, we had to have a talk about asking before taking and why we need the help of others in cutting our hair. Glad we didn't stab an eye by accident!

Funny note: The other day at dinner Vanessa wanted to participate in the conversation but she didn't really have anything to say: "So today Daddy we went to a park. Yeah, we played and blah, blah, blah . . . ." Glad I'm passing useful things along. :)

How many?

Zane's birthday was on Friday, so we  celebrated with pumpkin pie. We knew to hold his hands from the flame. :)

Zane loves pumpkin pie! Perfect for a fall birthday!

We ended up hosing him and the high chair off.

Then we had cake on Sunday! The die cake ended up a little lopsided. Zane obviously didn't care.

I guess I'll give you some, Dad.

I deserve a bow on top!

Almost gone and another hosing to go!

Entertainment

Watching these two figure out how to play together can be quite enjoyable. Although Zane likes to ride on toys too, he'd much rather push his sister around. He tries pushing her in the swing, in the stroller, and on chairs too. By default it seems Zane can be rather passive when it comes to Vanessa taking things from him or her stealing the center of attention. Even if he doesn't mind, we need to work on Vanessa developing consideration of others, as you'll see. :) But can I share that I LOVE when Vanessa puts herself in timeout. :) She just displayed that amazing ability a moment ago. Those moments deserve praise! Anyway, this video ends with me turning off the camera to deal with her. I'm sure it worked out fine. :)

And because I'm now back to being able to download some recent videos, here's one of Zane doing his signing of more. While updating the kitchen, Zane sat near the old patio door in the dining room. He learned to enjoy the spot quite a bit, being able to watch his sister and other various wildlife out in the backyard. There's also a mirror in front of him that allows for independent games. On this particular day he signed all kinds of things to himself while looking in the mirror. I watched for a bit, certainly intrigued. Then I ran for the camera and got just a tad of the entertainment that was left. Something is better than nothing!!!